CIC energiGUNE is leading the development of a new solid state battery technology that will facilitate its large-scale production and will allow responding to the high demand of the automotive sector

The Basque centre is hosting the launch meeting of the European SOLIDBAT project at its facilities on the Vitoria-Gasteiz Campus of the Euskadi Technology Park, which brings together 13 entities from the continent and one from Canada – under the coordination of CIC energiGUNE – with the aim of developing high energy density solid-state batteries that offer greater durability and safety, and whose production has the minimum environmental impact.

SOLIDBAT follows the line of work developed in the European SAFELiMOVE project, also led by CIC energiGUNE and completed in December 2023, with significant advances in the field of solid-state batteries that are decisive for the manufacture of more efficient and sustainable devices and for the promotion of electromobility.

CIC energiGUNE, a leading Basque research centre in electrochemical energy storage and conversion and thermal energy storage and conversion, is hosting from today the launch meeting of the European SOLIDBAT project, funded by the European Union through its Horizon Europe programme, which aims to develop a disruptive technology in the field of solid-state batteries to facilitate the large-scale production of these devices and thus respond to the stringent demands of the automotive sector.

‘The automotive industry is asking us for a technology that easily adapts to lithium-ion technology to ensure a rapid introduction of solid-state batteries in the electric vehicle market,’ said María Martínez-Ibañez, principal investigator of the project at CIC energiGUNE. ‘With SOLIDBAT we will offer an innovative alternative that prioritises cost, sustainability and recycling, so that European manufacturers will have a clear competitive advantage over the current production leaders located in Asia’.

To this end, the focus of the SOLIDBAT project will be on high energy density (400 Wh/kg, 1000 Wh/L) solid state batteries, as they allow for long life and increased safety, and are therefore ideally suited to meet the needs of the automotive industry.

As highlighted at the kick-off meeting, the development of the project involves innovation in five main areas: new digital tools and models for materials development and cell parameter design; an active nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode material that is nickel-rich, high-capacity and water processable; a 3D textured high-energy lithium metal anode coated with an artificial protective solid-electrolyte interface; a highly conductive and electrochemically stable hybrid gel polymer electrolyte; and scalable solutions for manufacturing solid-state battery technology that easily adapt to current lithium-ion technology.

One focus of the development of this disruptive technology is to minimise the impact on the environment by reducing the use of critical raw materials, reducing the use of toxic PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), and developing more sustainable production processes. In this way, SOLIDBAT will contribute to the transition towards climate-neutral energy and transport and avoid dependence on battery production in Asian countries.

It should also be noted that SOLIDBAT continues the work carried out over the past four years in the SAFELiMOVE project, an initiative also led by CIC energiGUNE, which was committed to the development of a new generation of batteries for electric vehicles – based on a solid-state electrolyte – capable of producing a safer, more reliable and high-performance lithium battery. The work carried out in SAFELiMOVE, as highlighted by María Martínez-Ibañez – who was also the Principal Investigator of that project – ‘was decisive in successfully advancing in three fundamental aspects: the development of advanced materials; the analysis and optimisation of interfaces; and the scalability of solid-state technology towards several prototypes’.

The SOLIDBAT consortium includes 13 recognised European and one Canadian entity, covering the entire battery value chain and fostering European innovation and industry growth. Under the leadership and coordination of CIC energiGUNE, the other SOLIDBAT partners are: Inobat Auto JSA (Slovakia), SCHOTT AG (Germany), Hydro-Quebec (Canada), Specific Polymers SAS (France), Ampere SAS (France), Toyota Motor Europe (Belgium), Life Cycle Engineering SpA (Italy), Eurida (Austria), Commissariat a L’Energie Atomique et Aux Energies (France), Fundación CIDETEC (Spain), RWTH Aachen University (Germany), Technical University Braunschweig (Germany), and Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC (Germany).